Rookie Play, Highlights & Discussion

[J_T]

That's not how it goes. It doesn't matter where some mock drafts had Avdija. The fact is he was chosen 9th, and for that pick he's looking like great value so far. It's not on the player to meet that "next Luka Doncic" hype. If anything it's the scouts that should do a better job at evaluating talent.

If a player is touted as next Luka Doncic or next Michael Jordan or next Shaq and then he plays reasonably well, nobody should be surprised.

He plays as expected. If you disagree, then in my opinion - no disrespect - you had wrong expectations.

Except nobody who watched him actually compared him with Luka.

In fact most scouting videos on him specifically stated that he is not on Luka's level as a prospect but he can still be a good player.

If that were true, then there would have been no need for Deni to say: "I’m Deni Avdija. That’s who I am. I don’t want to be compared to anybody."

[Han Solo]

Hayes is not ready. He looks horrible out there.

yeah. cannot believe these draft experts advised Bulls to draft a bust at 4.
hes too raw and the last thing is waste that rookie contract for nothing. Hes not a terrible player and can be a stud similar to Lamelo if he finds the right team to develop.

It’s 5 games into his rookie year at 19 years old. Hardly any of these rookies look good at all. The kid the Pistons drafted at #19, I don’t think I’d trade for any other rookie from this class. This was a horrible draft class. Next year’s will be a really good one. Just how it goes.

[Hornet Mania]

Ball has been Charlotte's best player for two consecutive games. It's almost cheating to count last night though, all the starters except for Biz were awful.

[Zombiesonics]

Ball has been Charlotte's best player for two consecutive games. It's almost cheating to count last night though, all the starters except for Biz were awful.

its cool to see borrego loosen the leash, some of his post game quotes alluded to him starting soon. I think we can expect at bare minimum 25 mpg going forward. as long as lamelo is continuingly improving no reason to slow him down, its remarkable how he's adjusted his shooting so fast. he already runs the pick n roll and halfcourt offense better than graham

[Hornet Mania]

Ball has been Charlotte's best player for two consecutive games. It's almost cheating to count last night though, all the starters except for Biz were awful.

its cool to see borrego loosen the leash, some of his post game quotes alluded to him starting soon. I think we can expect at bare minimum 25 mpg going forward. as long as lamelo is continuingly improving no reason to slow him down, its remarkable how he's adjusted his shooting so fast. he already runs the pick n roll and halfcourt offense better than graham

I have been very pleasantly surprised by Melo's progression. I'm bracing for some regression but there's no doubt he has looked poised and ready to contribute with the exception of the opener. I thought JB was smart to ease him in as backup PG so he didn't get overwhelmed, especially since he hasn't had the most structured basketball background, but if he keeps this up there is no doubt he will have earned that larger role.

The other thing that might force JB's hand a bit is that Devonte Graham has been completely awful

[Quentin]

Timberwolves just completed their 3rd straight blowout loss. This is such a great team right now that even the number one pick in the draft isn't starting for them. This should show the ineptitude of this organization. They need Edwards to be a star and they're coddling him when he doesn't need it. Dude is ready to go with this horrible roster.

[gorz]

Timberwolves just completed their 3rd straight blowout loss. This is such a great team right now that even the number one pick in the draft isn't starting for them. This should show the ineptitude of this organization. They need Edwards to be a star and they're coddling him when he doesn't need it. Dude is ready to go with this horrible roster.

True its quite frustrating..this is how players busts not saying edwards is headed down that path but most players that end up becoming busts are due to the ineptitude of the organization managing their players. after towns went down there is no excuses for the wolves not to insert Edwards in the starting lineup. Wolves have a hodgepodge of mixed talent from their guards wings. Playmaker Russell Rubio. Defensive guards/wing Okogie Culver. Scorers Edwards Beasley They need to pull all the stops and commit to a certain core group and stop shuffling the rotation which doesn't help the team or young players confidence.

[Heej]

Love that Lamelo's been ballin. A lotta people hate on him cuz of Lavar but do you know how many people would kill to have a father like that who supports his sons and consistently tries his best to be there for them? Would be incredible if this kid's the one that puts Jordan's franchise back on the map. I feel like there's guys out there who wanna play for Jordan but Charlotte just never looked enticing enough to them. This kid seems like the type that can gel with superstars and potentially attract them, and Charlotte is low key one of the nicer all around big cities you can live in as far as quality of life goes.

[Klayforspicy]

Ive seen enough to say Melo has the best floater in the NBA, ive been watching hoops for 20+ years and never seen a player with that kind of touch on floaters besides maybe DRose

[HotelVitale]

Well, he was touted as "next Luka Doncic" and was as high as 3rd on some NBA draft boards so he better deliver SOMETHING. For me his play so far has been perfectly expected.

That's not how it goes. It doesn't matter where some mock drafts had Avdija. The fact is he was chosen 9th, and for that pick he's looking like great value so far. It's not on the player to meet that "next Luka Doncic" hype. If anything it's the scouts that should do a better job at evaluating talent.

If a player is touted as next Luka Doncic or next Michael Jordan or next Shaq and then he plays reasonably well, nobody should be surprised. He plays as expected. If you disagree, then in my opinion - no disrespect - you had wrong expectations.

Also if the draft writers you read are telling you Avdija is the next Luka, you need to respect yourself more and read someone else. There's no way any reasonable person could look at Avdija's tape and say 'this person has immediate Luka-esque superstar written all over him!' People that liked him thought he could be a good glue guy with some potential for more, can do a little bit of everything and had been very effective as a big playmaker in some lower-level competition. People that were cooler on him thought his shooting and quickness weren't good enough to be weapons at the next level. He had nothing remotely close to Luka's resume coming into the draft, and no clear path to being a star even if things worked out really for him.

Also if any player had even like a 25% chance of becoming Luka they're would've gone #1 with a bullet this year, and been an easy top-3 pick almost every year. Don't blame the draft for wild expectations, blame whoever's hyping you up.

[HotelVitale]

Timberwolves just completed their 3rd straight blowout loss. This is such a great team right now that even the number one pick in the draft isn't starting for them. This should show the ineptitude of this organization. They need Edwards to be a star and they're coddling him when he doesn't need it. Dude is ready to go with this horrible roster.

True its quite frustrating..this is how players busts not saying edwards is headed down that path but most players that end up becoming busts are due to the ineptitude of the organization managing their players.

C'mon, man, that's ridiculous. Anthony Edwards getting 25 instead of of 30 minutes in his 4th game has zero to do with whether or not he'll be able to score efficiently and make good reads in 3 years. Edwards will have like 4000 minutes over the next couple years, plus literally hundreds of practices and workouts, to work on the things he needs to in order to reach his potential. Also it seems like the opposite of 'coddling' a player to make him earn his minutes and not get a free pass to do whatever right from day one. PLayers can develop in many different ways but teams that generally develop players better tend to give them clear roles that can can perform as they grow into the rest of their games.

[penggemar]

Theo Maledon had a good game in a win against Orlando

[amcoolio]

Rough game for LaMelo against Thybulle and Simmons but 13 points, 5 reb, 4 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks ain't bad, especially for someone who "is the worst defensive player in the draft"

Another game where his teammates fumble his passes and clank shots or he could have had 10+ assists

This will be a long year

[Fat]

Rough game for LaMelo against Thybulle and Simmons but 13 points, 5 reb, 4 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks ain't bad, especially for someone who "is the worst defensive player in the draft"

Another game where his teammates fumble his passes and clank shots or he could have had 10+ assists

This will be a long year

What’s lamelo shooting like 40% from three? His efficiency from long distance is the most stand out point of interest for me. If he can be a decent shooter from distance for his career to go along with the playmaking skills he can be a all star caliber player.

[TyFrekey]

To me, tonight's game demonstrated why Tyrese Haliburton is so 1) good and 2) important to the Kings. He's so heady and smart that he gives the offense, and the team as a whole, stability. I think he's the best decision maker on the team, no joke. Not sure if that's more an indictment of his teammates or praise of him. He's also one the best defenders on the team, and he hasn't even quite figured out how to play NBA defense yet in terms of his timing, instincts, and experience.

[arusinov]

Here's table including all rookies which played more than 100 min this year sorted by +/-

Deni Avdija is +52 in 157 minutes he played which means in 131 minutes he wasn't on the court Wizards went -65

Up to now Deni provided per game 7.8 pts (on 66.8 TS%), 5.2 reb, 2.7 ast (just 0.7 tov), 1.3 stl. And he played really good defense.

While I'm sure he can do much more even now he looks like solid vet glue guy.

[Pistol King]

Here's table including all rookies which played more than 100 min this year sorted by +/-

Deni Avdija is +52 in 157 minutes he played which means in 131 minutes he wasn't on the court Wizards went -65

Up to now Deni provided per game 7.8 pts (on 66.8 TS%), 5.2 reb, 2.7 ast (just 0.7 tov), 1.3 stl. And he played really good defense.

While I'm sure he can do much more even now he looks like solid vet glue guy.

Considering his extremely low usage, I think he's outperforming the entire rookie class so far.

https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/stats/2021/Advanced_Stats/Qualified/usg_pct/All/desc/1/Regular_Season?rookies=

You couldn't ask for a higher impact with his low usage rate (ranked 24'th among all the rookies in usage rate, pretty unbelievable).

1'st in plus minus, 2'nd in rebounds, 3'rd in MPG, 3'rd in 3p%, 4'th in steals, 5'th in assists, 10th in points.

[SwipeDaFox]

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As mentioned he has the 2nd lowest usage on the Wizards,

And he's 14th in the entire leauge in +/-, while being on a 1-5 losing team which is ridiculous (He's actually the only player in the top 20 that's on a team with a losing record)

[ThunderBolt]

Theo Maledon had a good game in a win against Orlando

He is a true point guard with his ability to run the offense and manipulate the defense.

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[deneem4]

Usage can make u deni or luka